The Stony Brook Medicine Healthy Libraries Program (HeLP) is a partnership between the Public Libraries of Suffolk County, a unique group of healthcare professionals and graduate student interns from the fields of social work, public health, nursing, physician assistant, nutrition, medicine and library science, working together to provide access to both in-person and virtual healthcare related resources for public library patrons throughout Suffolk County. HeLP offers programs in collaboration with Stony Brook Medicine's Heart Institute and Cancer Center, and the American Heart Association of Long Island.
The goal of the program is to:
- Provide evidence-based health information, screening, and case management to a diverse community of patrons in the public library setting.
- Refer patrons to promote access to appropriate health and social services programs locally that will address their health and social support needs.
- For students to experience an interprofessional team and demonstrate the core competencies based on the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC).
- To support programs, trainings, and provide resources for librarians and their patrons.